


She Sings Him Songs of Happiness

by jadencross



Series: He Sleeps, She Sings, They Listen [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alluras a good singer who knew?, Fluff, Gen, Singing, Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-20 15:03:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8253368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadencross/pseuds/jadencross
Summary: Keith just can't sit still. He can't. Lance isn't here, they have no word from any of the other paladins. He just wants them to come home.Allura thinks she has a solution for Keith's sleeping problem.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to my other fic, He Sleeps in the Sky of Ice. You don't have to have read it, as it's a prequel. This one works fine as a stand-alone work. 
> 
> For some quick backstory for new readers, this takes place about a month or two after the end of season 1. All the paladins have been scattered throughout the universe. Allura did a one-time magic show to get them all connected enough to form a plan wherein the Blue Lion and castle come find Red, while Black finds Green, then they both got find Yellow. Yellow then follows Blue's train to the castle. [basically each lion can only find one other one from all the way across the galaxy for security.] This happens after Allura and Coran pick Keith up and fix Red, but before anyone else is even heard from.
> 
> Yeah, so, I heard that Keith and Allura would have bonding moments [sans voice crack, maybe] in season 2, so I wanted to post this a little bit before I finished He Sleeps. I always saw Hunk as the mother of Team Voltron, and Allura as the loving-yet-bossy aunt. Coran is, of course, the other aunt.
> 
> Also, many thanks to my friend Erin, who also knows nothing about Voltron but loves me enough to proof my fics!
> 
> Anyway, here goes!

After about an hour, the constant tapping was starting to grate on Allura’s nerves.

She had banned Keith from going to the training room for the past week, the damage to both the room and himself substantial enough to warrant an intervention. He’d been training non-stop since they’d fixed the Red Lion. From what Allura could tell, he wasn’t even stopping to sleep.

Now that he couldn’t go to the training room, he would hang around the control room, watching silently from against the wall while Coran and Allura worked.

Well, almost silently.

“Would you stop tapping your foot?” Allura turned to him, her eye twitching slightly. “It’s making it _very_ hard to concentrate.”

Keith stopped, his foot frozen in midair and a blush spreading across his face.

“Sorry,” he said weakly. Allura felt some of her irritation leave her.

He looked tired. _Really_ tired. He had large circles of black under his eyes, his whole body stiff and sagging. She heard the mice in her head, telling her they were worried, that they’d seen him out of bed too often. Their little faces as they sat on her shoulder were sad. 

“When was the last time you slept?”

Keith jumped at the question. He looked around, trying to find Coran to escape it. Unfortunately for him, Coran had gone down to the engine room hours ago.

“Keith.” Allura narrowed her eyes.

“I’m...not sure?” Keith said hesitantly, still looking at the floor.

Allura furrowed her brow. “Why haven’t you been sleeping?”

Keith shrugged, fixating his gaze on the door beside him. Evasive. Allura could fix that.

“Is it because Lance isn’t here?”

Keith stood rapidly, almost losing his balance. A sort of snort escaping his mouth.

“What?” Keith said a little too loudly. “Why would I be losing sleep over _that_ idiot?”

“Because he’s not here,” Allura said bluntly. “And if he’s not here, the others won’t be able to find us.”

Keith started pacing. He looked kind of like a dead man, hobbling along, but his clearly unaddressed emotions kept him moving.

“Shiro and Pidge have probably already met up by now,” Keith said, counting on his fingers. “They can handle anything together. Hunk might be a scaredy cat sometimes, but he can take quite a few hits. He might even be with them now. And Lance, though he’s stupid and way too brave for his own good, can fight with the best of them. I mean, he was able to hold his own against a Galra cruiser before we even knew what the Galra were.”

Keith stopped, and blush lighting on his cheeks as he turned to Allura.

“Don’t tell him I said that.”

“I won’t,” Allura said. He had seemed to be counting off to assure himself, not her anyway.

“If you’re not worried, they why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I don’t know.” Keith looked at the ceiling, the floor, the walls. Anything but her.

She got to her feet, crossing the room and taking Keith’s wrists in her hands as she held them up between them.

“You _do_ know,” she said, certain.

Keith still didn’t look at her.

“Is it because they’re not here?”

Keith flinched at that. There was a long pause, before he hesitated.

“I lived alone in a shack in the desert for almost a year before we found Blue,” Keith said hesitantly, looking at his hands as they hung limply in Allura’s grip. “I didn’t think that I’d have problems sleeping knowing that half the people on this team were gone.”

“So you’re lonely.”

Keith didn’t move. At least he wasn’t flinching anymore.

“I think I have a solution.” Allura pulled Keith out of the room. He didn’t resist, but she saw the surprised look on his face before she turned to lead him away.

When they neared his room, he pulled back a little. Allura didn’t stop, pulling him through the door and pushing him onto the bed.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked, sleepy, sleepy terror on his face.

“I’m going to sing you a lullaby.”

Keith stared. Allura waited a moment, but when he didn’t blink she shook him a little. He blinked.

“You’re gonna what?”

“Do you not have lullabies on Earth?” Allura asked.

“No, we do.” Keith blinked again, cocking his head slightly. “Why do you want to sing me a lullaby?”

“Because you’re a paladin of Voltron,” Allura said as if that explained everything. Keith blinked again, no sign of comprehension visible. Allura sighed. “My job is to lead this team and make sure all the paladins are ready for battle. Normally, I would expect the other paladins or Coran to check up on the amount of sleep you’re getting, but, seeing how you’re the only paladin here and Coran’s busy fixing the castle, I guess that it’s become my duty.”

Keith tried to sit up. “You really don’t have to—”

Allura shoved him back down. He winced and Allura was only barely concerned that she’d reopened one of the injuries he’d inflicted on himself before she shrugged it off.

“You’re the only defense this castle has right now.” She stared directly into his eyes. “If you haven’t slept, then you can’t defend. So I’m going to help you sleep.”

Keith blinked again. He looked like he was going to object, but laying horizontally and not sleeping for probably _days_ was getting the best of him. He yawned.

“Alright,” he finally allowed. He let himself relax onto the bed, his eyes already half-lidded. “Do your worst.”

“Do you think that I’m a bad singer?” Allura huffed.

Keith cracked one eye open wider. “No?”

“That’s what I thought.” Allura covered Keith with the blanket, not caring that he still had shoes and clothes on. Lance had called to attention the fact that Keith did it all the time before they had all gotten separated by the broken wormhole. His exact words had been “filthy heathen” she believed.

She sat at the edge of the bed, pulling the blankets near Keith’s knees tighter with her weight. The mice jumped off of her, nuzzling into Keith's hair. She racked her brain for a song, before one occurred to her.

She didn’t remember all the words, but she remembered her mother singing it to her. It saddened her, but she wanted to sing for Keith now. She wanted to pass on what her mother had given her.

 

_On narrow roads, on which we travel_

_There are stories, we must unravel_

_There’s a song, in all our hearts_

_And there’s no sorrow when we part._

 

Keith’s eyes were already starting to close, only the smallest sliver showing that his eyes were even open. Allura continued, encouraged.

 

_Happiness, sits in our hearts_

_Happiness, even in the dark_

_Though we may be sad, for just a while_

_The days will return, with a happy smile_

 

Keith’s eyes were completely closed, his shallow breaths proof that he was out. She shifted, and he stirred slightly. She decided to sing a little more to make sure he was asleep.

 

_Oh better days, are on their way_

_Oh better days, are on their way_

_Don’t be afraid, don’t be ashamed_

_For happy days, are here to stay_

 

She sang the last line as she stood, smoothing the blankets over his still body. This time he didn’t stir. She studied his face for a moment, smiling at the look of peace that spread over his features. She’d hardly ever seen it before they split up, but for the last month had been hard to watch the worry in his eyes.

She left quietly, glad for her training in stealth. The mice stayed behind, sleepy promises to watch over him lingering in her mind.

Outside the door, she was met with Coran. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, tears just forming in his eyes.

“Princess!” Coran shout-whispered, trying not to wake Keith with his exclamation of surprise. He rubbed his eyes quickly, trying to hide them. Allura smiled.

“I got Keith to go to sleep.”

“I noticed.” Coran smiled. “I’ve never heard you sing before. When you were little, you refused to do it around anyone.”

Allura blushed a little. “I always thought I was a bad singer.”

“It was very beautiful.” Coran looked her in the eyes. “You should sing more.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the time,” Allura said, starting to walk back to the control room. Coran followed her. “I’ve got things to do.”

“Well,” Coran’s voice got louder the farther away they were from Keith’s door. They averted the eyes from all the empty rooms where the other paladins used to sleep. “What do you say when we defeat Zarkon, you start singing more often?”

Allura smiled, glancing at her mentor, her friend.

“Of course,” she said, her voice happy. “If we defeat Zarkon, I’ll sing every day.”

Coran smiled big at that. Allura smiled for a few more moments, before she turned back to the control room. As they entered the threshold, she replaced it with a more neutral face, but she didn’t let the warm, bubbly feeling fade. As she came to the computer she swore to herself that once this war was over, she’d sing for everyone. But now wasn’t the time.

She had work to do.

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a one-time diversion from my normal writing on He Sleeps. I've got tons of other little one shots that happen before, and maybe even a multi-chapter fic on Lance's adventures, too. I don't know, it depends on how excited I get. I'll probably write the rest of them after I finish He Sleeps, though. I want to have at least one fic per character. 
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are well liked! 
> 
> See yah!


End file.
